[ OP-ED COLUMN ]

Student Editorial Winners This Week

Published: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 12:43 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 12:43 a.m.

This week, we will announce the winners of The Ledger's 34th annual Student Editorial Writing Contest.

On Aug. 1, we published the rules for this year's contest — and, in particular, the three topics from which students would have to choose one as the subject for an editorial:

■ FCAT grading changes.

■ Public and police safety.

■ State-university funding, tuition.

In the meantime, the 2012-2013 school year started up. Teachers put students to work on the contest in three categories: elementary school, middle school and high school.

By the deadline of Nov. 7, participating teachers could choose two entries per class to submit. (There was a provision for homeschooled students to enter as well.)

The collection of entries was screened by the Communication Department of Florida Southern College. Back at The Ledger, the winners were chosen by the Editorial Department. All that remains is to present the winners and publish their editorials.

That is scheduled to begin Wednesday with the elementary school editorials. Middle school will be Thursday and high school will be Friday.

Photos of the students will accompany the editorials. On TheLedger.com, the first-place editorials will be read by their writers in online videos.

The winners get more than just recognition.

The top three in each category get plaques and cash awards: $250 for first place, $200 for second place and $150 for third place.

REV. WILLOUGHBY

The Rev. Robert E. Willoughby, 88, of Lakeland, one of the most prolific letter writers to Voice of the People, died Oct. 30 of prostate cancer.

On Nov. 11, The Ledger published both a letter from Pastor Don Utzman of Lakeland conveying this news as well as Willoughby's obituary.

A memorial service for Willoughby is scheduled for this afternoon at 4. It is to be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland, 3140 Troy Ave. An online congregation message — www.uuclakeland.org — says, "All are welcome to come and celebrate the life of this remarkable author and activist."

Willoughby not only wrote letters regularly, making full use of our general rule of one letter per writer published per calendar month, he often wrote with fiery criticism of Christian denominations that are rigid in their reading of the Bible.

Soon after such a letter would be published, as would be expected in Polk County with its many active conservative churches, a slew of rebuttal letters would arrive, a number of which we would run.

One letter I would like to have published, but failed to because of a scheduling error, came from Clark Dobson of Lakeland. He wrote on Oct. 10 to say that Willoughby had moved from Lakeland to San Diego to be with one of his children because he was ill.

Dobson wrote: "He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Mississippi, picketed the White House with other ministers and eventually became an English teacher in an inner-city, predominantly black, high school in Detroit. When women's rights became a major issue in the U.S., he didn't hesitate to jump into that battle. When the civil rights of gays and lesbians also became a national issue, he again didn't hesitate to add his voice to the fray."

Willoughby was a retired Methodist minister who became a longtime member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland. He wrote six books, the last of which was "The Radical Rabbi of Nazareth," published in 2011. He gave a sermon of the same title to the congregation in July 2011.

His last letter to the editor, "Parties Offer Clear Choices," Sept. 13, urged voters to cast ballots for Democrats and detailed the reasons for doing so.

I knew Willoughby only through phone conversations — regarding his letters and books — but was impressed and intrigued by his soft voice, and calm-and-kind manner.

<p>This week, we will announce the winners of The Ledger's 34th annual Student Editorial Writing Contest.</p><p>On Aug. 1, we published the rules for this year's contest — and, in particular, the three topics from which students would have to choose one as the subject for an editorial:</p><p>■ FCAT grading changes.</p><p>■ Public and police safety.</p><p>■ State-university funding, tuition.</p><p>In the meantime, the 2012-2013 school year started up. Teachers put students to work on the contest in three categories: elementary school, middle school and high school.</p><p>By the deadline of Nov. 7, participating teachers could choose two entries per class to submit. (There was a provision for homeschooled students to enter as well.)</p><p>The collection of entries was screened by the Communication Department of Florida Southern College. Back at The Ledger, the winners were chosen by the Editorial Department. All that remains is to present the winners and publish their editorials.</p><p>That is scheduled to begin Wednesday with the elementary school editorials. Middle school will be Thursday and high school will be Friday.</p><p>Photos of the students will accompany the editorials. On TheLedger.com, the first-place editorials will be read by their writers in online videos.</p><p>The winners get more than just recognition.</p><p>The top three in each category get plaques and cash awards: $250 for first place, $200 for second place and $150 for third place.</p><p> </p><p><B>REV. WILLOUGHBY</B></p><p>The Rev. Robert E. Willoughby, 88, of Lakeland, one of the most prolific letter writers to Voice of the People, died Oct. 30 of prostate cancer.</p><p>On Nov. 11, The Ledger published both a letter from Pastor Don Utzman of Lakeland conveying this news as well as Willoughby's obituary.</p><p>A memorial service for Willoughby is scheduled for this afternoon at 4. It is to be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland, 3140 Troy Ave. An online congregation message — www.uuclakeland.org — says, "All are welcome to come and celebrate the life of this remarkable author and activist."</p><p>Willoughby not only wrote letters regularly, making full use of our general rule of one letter per writer published per calendar month, he often wrote with fiery criticism of Christian denominations that are rigid in their reading of the Bible.</p><p>Soon after such a letter would be published, as would be expected in Polk County with its many active conservative churches, a slew of rebuttal letters would arrive, a number of which we would run.</p><p>One letter I would like to have published, but failed to because of a scheduling error, came from Clark Dobson of Lakeland. He wrote on Oct. 10 to say that Willoughby had moved from Lakeland to San Diego to be with one of his children because he was ill.</p><p>Dobson wrote: "He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Mississippi, picketed the White House with other ministers and eventually became an English teacher in an inner-city, predominantly black, high school in Detroit. When women's rights became a major issue in the U.S., he didn't hesitate to jump into that battle. When the civil rights of gays and lesbians also became a national issue, he again didn't hesitate to add his voice to the fray."</p><p>Willoughby was a retired Methodist minister who became a longtime member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland. He wrote six books, the last of which was "The Radical Rabbi of Nazareth," published in 2011. He gave a sermon of the same title to the congregation in July 2011.</p><p>His last letter to the editor, "Parties Offer Clear Choices," Sept. 13, urged voters to cast ballots for Democrats and detailed the reasons for doing so.</p><p>I knew Willoughby only through phone conversations — regarding his letters and books — but was impressed and intrigued by his soft voice, and calm-and-kind manner.</p><p>[ Glenn Marston is editorial page editor. E-mail: glenn.marston@theledger.com. Phone: 863-802-7600. ]</p>